What is Hydroquinone:
Is a metabolite of benzene and a known carcinogenic.
What is it used for:
Hydroquinone is used as skin lightening agent in products. It is used for treating melasma and improving skin tone.
Why we are featuring it:
Hydroquinone causes skin sensitivity, skin irritation and it being an extremely aggressive lightening agent can over a period of time actually lead to skin discoloration. The scariest part is that Hydroquinone is a metabolite of the carcinogen benzene and a known carcinogenic.
An extract from NCBI, “Hydroquinone is a phenolic metabolite of benzene, a known human carcinogen. Hydroquinone is widely used in the industry. We report a case of a 43-year-old male diagnosed with antecedent myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia following 16 years of occupational exposure to hydroquinone in radiographic developer solution. Cytogenetic studies revealed aberrations in chromosome 5 and chromosome 7. We review the literature on hydroquinone as a potential cause of hematolymphatic cancers and discuss the role of hydroquinone as a genotoxic and leukemogenic agent.”
References:
You can read more of its carcinogenic effects here:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21511898
https://academic.oup.com/carcin/article/21/8/1485/2896420
Pix: Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
